The 11 footballers in football history with more appearances than Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is regarded as the greatest player of all time and while his football brilliance cannot be understated, his longevity in the game is often overlooked.
Messi sits 12th on the all-time list for appearances across club and country in the history of football.
Therefore, we’ve decided to chart and list the 11 players who currently have more career appearances than the sublime Argentinian star.
11. Pat Jennings – 1,124
Beginning the list, English keeper Jennings enjoyed a 25-year career which totalled over 1,100 games.
He managed to feature for historic clubs such as Tottenham and Arsenal as well as making 119 caps for Northern Ireland.
Later given an MBE and OBE for his services to football, he is regarded as one of the best keepers of his time. He featured in the World XI in 1973 and won the FA Cup with both North London clubs.
10. Roberto Carlos – 1,136
One of the greatest left-backs of all time, Carlos reinvented the role of a defender, becoming one of the greatest attacking players in his position. What also stands out is his longevity and outstanding injury record.
Looking at his career, he missed only 35 games across his club career which was exceptional given his explosive style of play.
It is also how he managed 527 games for Madrid. Winning 26 trophies including the World Cup, Copa America and three Champions Leagues, he is simply one of the best and most accomplished players on this list – and there’s certainly no one else who could hit a ball as hard as he could.
9. Yasuhito Endo – 1,141
Endo played the entirety of his career in Japan, notching just five games more than Carlos. Across 27 years, he also featured at three World Cups and totalled over 150 caps for his country.
Winning 13 trophies during his longest career spell at Gambo Osaka, he has to most appearances in the Japanese top-flight and is an icon of the game in Asia.
8. Gianluigi Buffon – 1,155
One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Buffon displayed an incredible amount of grace, quality and consistency across his long career.
His longevity at the top level was unmatched and he retired age 45 after finishing his career where it started, at Parma.
With 176 caps for Italy and 685 games for Juve, he is one of the most iconic Italian players and won 30 trophies across his career he also included countless individual awards that further rubberstamped his legacy.
7. Tommy Hutchinson – 1,178
One of just two midfielders on the list, Hutchinson breaks the mould.
With 314 games in the Football League for Coventry City, and more than 160 games apiece in the competition for Blackpool and Swansea City.
He was also capped 17 times for Scotland as well.
6. Barry Hayles – 1,188*
A non-league figure who eventually made it to the Premier League, Hayles’ story is incredible.
Most well-known for his time at Fulham, he became a Jamaica international and helped the London club reach the Premier League for the first time.
He eventually hung up his boots in 2023 after failing to find another club and he spent his final season at FC Windsor.
The longest spells he enjoyed at clubs were at Stevenage Borough, Truro City, Willesden Hawkeye and Bristol Rovers.
5. Rogerio Ceni – 1,226
If you’ve ever seen videos of a keeper scoring free-kicks in the past then it was likely you were witnessing the greatness of Brazilian keeper Rogerio Ceni.
He has the record for the most goals by a goalkeeper in history with 131 career strikes thanks to his free-kick and penalty duties.
Considered one of the best Brazilian keepers of all time, he spent the majority of his career at Sau Paulo where he notched nearly 1,200 appearances.
Scoring 131 goals, he also holds the record for the longest time spent as captain of the same club and he is a true great.
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4. Cristiano Ronaldo – 1, 265*
Now 40, Ronaldo is showing no signs of slowing down. He has previously stated that he intends to break the 1000-goal mark for his career and given he is now in the 900s, there’s no way he’ll walk away from such a goal now.
Having been the star name in the Saudi Pro League since its meteoric rise a few years ago, he will likely renew his deal to remain in the Middle East, where he can continue scoring goals for fun.
He will soon rise to third place on this list and it remains to be seen if he can outlast Fabio who remains in competitive action despite being four years older than Ronaldo.
3. Paul Bastock – 1,284
Bastock’s career was just 24 years long which is certainly a few short of the two keepers that rank ahead of him on the list, which makes for an interesting revelation. A non-league icon, he represented over 20 clubs.
He was most well-known for his time at Boston United where he won two trophies and totalled around 679 games while his second-most came at St. Albans City (315) and third being Worksop Town (42). Beginning as a 17-year-old, he finally hung up his gloves aged 53.
2. Fabio – 1,344*
Remarkably, Brazilian keeper Fabio is still going strong at age 44.
He has just entered the third decade of his career and he currently plays for Brazilian top-flight side Fluminese, where he has close to 200 appearances.
He totalled an insurmountable figure of 848 appearances for Cruzeiro before moving to his current side, winning 12 trophies.
Since joining Fluminese, he’s managed six in just under three years. While he was part of the national team’s squad in the past, he never made his debut for the senior side.
Still, his record is just unbelievable and he will likely continue to overtake Shilton’s record which remains in reach.
1. Peter Shilton – 1,396
Topping the list is the English legend Shilton, who enjoyed an incredible career spanning 32 years.
He remains England’s most capped player as well, with 125 appearances, and managed over 200 appearances for four clubs, including Leicester City, Stoke, Nottingham Forest and Southampton.
He began his career at age 16 which helped him accumulate such a sizeable total but his dedication to the craft over three decades has to be commended.
His prime saw him feature six times in the World XI and he is truly one of a kind.